Stitching machine



Feb. 18, 1947. G. A. WEiNGARTNER STITCHING MACHINE Filed March 4, 1945 '2 Sheets-She et 1 INVENTOR BY W v 1947. a. A. WEINGARTNER 2,415,923

STITCHING MACHINE Fild March 4, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 \w Raw Patented Feb. 18,1947

e alien STITCHING MACHINE Gerald A. Weingartner, Grand Island, N. Y., as-

signor .to Bell Aircraft Corporation, Bufialo,

Application March 4, 1943, S'erialNo.-47 7,-983

6 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of wire-stitching or stapling two or more sheets or pieces of stock material together to form integral fabricated units or pieces and more specifically to improvements in machines for applying metal stitches or staples or like fastening devices to various articles for securing them together. The improvements provided by the present invention relate particularly to the staple driving and clinching mechanisms of such machines, and may be used in conjunction with any other suitable machine elements for cutting and forming the staples and actuating the movable parts of the mechanism.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved staple driving and clinching means for use in conjunction with machines of the type previously manufactured for such purposes; whereby such machines, when incorporating the features of the present invention, will be adapted to drive staples without tearing or splitting or otherwise injuring the stock material being operated upon, and to provide a more perfect'stapleclinching operation. Another object of the in vention is to prevent production of raggedly torn holes in the work pieces and to produce staplereceiving openings therethrough which more perfectly match and fit the .staples when clinched thereon, whereby improved stapled connections are produced. Another object of the invention is to provide, in conjunction with an improved staple driving and clinching means, an improved clinching die holding mechanism whereby the clincher die may be replaced .or serviced with improved facility. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the specification hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevationof a wire stitching or stapling machine incorporating the features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section taken alongline IIII of Fig. 1 showing the staple driving and clinching elements of the machine in position preliminary to a staple driving phase .of the machine operation;

Fig. 3 is a section taken along line III-III of Fi 2;

Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2, but .at the end of the staple driving process and prior to the corresponding staple-clinchingprocess;

Fig, 5 is a view correspondingto Figs. .2 and 4, upon completion of the staple driving .and staple clinching processes; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section, on an enlarged 2 scale, through the staple clinching mechanism of Fig. 1.

Thedrawings illustrate the invention in conjunction with a metal stitching machine comprising a base lfl'having an integral laterally extending .post l2 carrying at its-outer end the staple forming and driving mechanism contained in an enlarged end or head portion l l. Inasmuch as the present invention does not relate .to the staple .forming mechanism, this portion of the machine is not illustrated in detail; and it will be understood that any suitable staple forming and handling mechanism may be employed in conjunction with the-inventive features of the machine which will be described hereinafter. Due to operation of the staple forming mechanism and the staple driving mechanism the formed staples will be caused to issue from the head portion Id of the machine by being pressed downwardly throu h the work which maycomprise two or more sheets as indicated at l5 'or other stock pieces by the machine staple driver Iii-while the staples are being supported laterally between opposed gibs or formers l8--l8. The driver gib unit isarranged to be alternately lifted .and lowered relative to the head It by means of the motor actuating mechanism of the .machine '(not shown), as controlled by the operator control device; and it will be understood that inresponse to manipulation of the operator control each cycle of stapling operation will include a :phase during .whichvthe driver-gib unit will lower relative to the head It so as to contact the work therebelow.

The work is arranged to be supported in opposition to the; staple driving operation by means of an arm 20 which extends laterally from the machine base l0 and in opposed relation with respect to the post l2, whereby stock pieces of substantial lateral dimensions may be accommodated between the ja-ws of,.the machine. Adjacent its outer end, the arm 251 carries a forming die and a staple clinching mechanism, as indicated generally at 22; the forming die and clinching mechanism being arranged in vertical alignment with the staple driving mechanism for cooperation therewith to firmly support the Work pieces against the staple'driving operation and to clinch the extending driven end portions of the staples subsequent to their being driven through the work 7 pieces.

As indicated at 24, thearm Zilis connected to the base In by means of a vertical key-slide, whereby the arm 20.may be adjusted vertically relative "to the base 40 while being held other- 3 wise rigid relative to the base. An adjustment strut 26 is pivoted to the arm at 2? and is threaded at 28 to extend through a boss portion 29 of the machine base. Locking nuts 39-46 thread upon the strut 25 to engage the boss at opposite sides thereof, whereby the arm 26 may be readily.

shifted vertically relative to the machine base by simple manipulation of the nuts 30-30, to accommodate the machine to difierent thicknesses of work stock.

As illustrated in Figs. 2-5, the staple driving mechanism of the machine includes a pair of glbs or formers 18-18 slidably supporting for relative vertical movement the staple driver [6 which comprises a hardened metal plate having a lower end portion of squared formation adapted to abut and press against the head of each successive staple as dispensed to drive the latter downwardly. For guiding of the driver plate during such staple driving movements the formers l8i8 are grooved as indicated at 3333 at opposite side walls thereof. A staple supporting shoe 34 is provided to extend between the legs of the staple, designated 35, and under the head thereof, and is backed up by a spring or As illustrated in Figs. 2-6, the work piece supporting and staple clinching mechanism of theinvention comprises a stationary staple leg shaping die and a moving clincher device adapted to cooperate with the staple driver and former unit in an improved manner. The shaping die portion of the mechanism is indicated at fill as comprising a die block of hardened metal or the like which is centrally vertically slotted to provide an opening therein adapted to receive the driven staple legs subsequent to penetration thereby of the work. Thus, the die 48 is formed with a Vertically disposed aperture 42 which, as illustrated in Fig. 3, is of such thickness as to freely accommodate the driven staple legs. However, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, .the width dimension of the aperture #32 is purposely made somewhat less than the width dimension of the staple 35' as it is delivered by the staple forming and driving unit.

Thus, as the driver l8 rams the staple 35 downwardly against the work the staple legs punch through the work pieces, and then proceed into the apertured portion 42 of the shaping die. During this latter process the staple legs are forced to rub against the upper inner corners 44-44 of the shaping die, and because of the constricted width dimension between the corners 44-44 the staple legs will be drawn into the curvingly deflected form thereof illustrated in Fig. 4. If the work pieces are of substantially hard material such as metal or the like, the staple legs will punch slugs of material out of the work pieces ahead of the penetrating operation, but ifthe work pieces are soft such as of rubber or leather or the like the legs will simply force their way through. The shaping die 40 is provided with an opening at 45 in the front face thereof for disposal of slugs which may be punched out of the stock pieces, and an air blast device may be conveniently arranged in conjunction with the die opening to automatically blow the stock piece slugs out of the shaping die subsequent to punching of the staple through the work.

7 The shaping die 40 is vertically grooved as indicated at 46 to slidably mount a clincher plate 50 therein; and the upper end of the clincher plate is squared and so dimensioned as to complement the plan view form of the staple 35, whereby subsequent to driving of the staple through the work the clincher plate may be hammered upwardly to engage the inwardly deflected end portions of the staple legs and to drive them up against the bottom of the work to complete the clinching process, as illustrated by Fig. 5. The staple driver and clincher actuating mechanisms are arranged to'be driven by the motor mechanism of the machine so that upon completion of each staple driving operation the clinching plate 50 will be rammed upwardly to clinch the legs of the staple while the staple driver remains in lowered position to back up the clinching process. Consequently, the staple is firmly clinched upon the stock, and even though the staple legs may have forced adjacent portions of the stock pieces into bent and deflected positions, as illustrated by the gapping shown in Fig. 4 between the two work sheets, the subsequent staple clinching operation will accurately reform the stock pieces and clinch them firmly together by means of a staple which is finally shaped to accurately complement the contours of the work pieces at the upper and lower surfaces thereof and throughout the extents of the perforations therethrough.

It will be understood that adjustments to compensate for varying thicknesses of the work to be operated upon may be readily made by varying the length of the staple legs in accord with any presently suitable arrangement, or by adjusting the position of the clincherv support arm 20 in Vertical directions relative to the base ll). Hence, any predetermined degree of squeezing of the work may be efiected. For example, when working with relatively soft materials such as leather, rubber, asbestos, or the like, undesirable cutting thereof as by ramming of the staple head and clinched legs through the work may be avoided by adjusting. the machine so that the staple driving operation automatically stops upon attainment of the desired contact between the staple head and the work. Also, when working with relatively brittle stock pieces it will usually be desirable to lower the arm 20 slightly so as to avoid hammering of the stock by the staple driver mechanism. The force of the clinching blow may be varied by adjustments of the clincher actuating mechanism as will be explained hereinafter.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, the clincher die mechanism 22 is formed with a plate portion 55 extending integrally therefrom for firmly bolting to the support arm 20 by means of screws as at 56. A cover plate 5'! is mounted upon the top portion of the arm 20 to be substantially flush with the top surfaces of the clincher die member 40, whereby the stock pieces to be operated upon by the machine may be laid upon the top plate 51 to extend therebeyond and to rest evenly upon the clincher die device in such manner as to be exactly normal to the direction of staple driving movement. Inasmuch as the support arm?!) is arranged to be vertically adjustable relative to the 'base by means of the slide keyway 24,111; will be understood that at all stages of vertical adjustment the support arm and clincher die unit will be adapted to support the work in such attitude as to be exactly normal to the direction of staple driving movement. Thus, the possibility of any tendencies of the staple legs to skid laterally against the top surface of the Work instead of penetrating the work to punch the latter in the improved manner referred to hereinabove, is eliminated.

To actuate the clincher i], and to enable the latter to be readily removed for servicing and/or replacement, the clincher plate 50 is extended downwardly beyond the reach of the die til to include a perforated portion 58 arranged to encompass a knub 8B 'eXtending from a rocker 62 which is rotatably mounted upon the support arm by means of a pivot pin 64. The knub 60 is arranged to be detachably looked upon the rocker 62, as by means of a set screw 66. A small screw 6i may be threaded into the knub 60 to be partially unscrewed therefrom to provide a handle for pulling the knub out of the rocker when released from the set screw 86. A stub 68 extends from the rocker 52 eccentrically of the pivot pin 68 to positionally engage one end of a compression prin l0 which bears at its opposite end against a stationary portion of the support arm 20; and the rocker and spring unit is so proportioned and arranged that the spring 70 tends to bias the rocker in counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 6- to maintain the clincher plate 50 in downwardly disposed position as illustrated in Fig. 6.

A push rod '12 i slidably mounted upon a bearing portion i l of the support arm 26 and carries a tapered hardened metal stem 75 to extend into bearing relation against a recessed portion 16 of the rocker 62 eccentrically of the pivot pin 64 and approximately diametrically pposed with respect to the compression spring 10. The push rod 72 is adjustably screwthreaded as at '18 into connection with a pitman 8B which is slidably mounted upon a bearing portion 82 of the'support arm 23 to be in alignment with the push rod; and the pitman 80 registers at its other end with a cam of the machine actuating motor mechanism. Thusfthe stroke of the push rod 72 may be regulated for driving to the left as viewed in Fig. 6 at regulated degrees to oscillate the rocker $2 in conjunction with each staple clinching operation immediately following completion of the corresponding staple driving operations.

More specifically, upon completion of a staple driving operation, the pitman 80 will be actuated toward the left as viewed in Fig. 6 to force the stem 15 to rotate the rocker 62 in clockwise direction against the action of the spring 'l'il, whereby the knub 69 will lift the clincher ,plate 50 to drive the latter upwardly against the projecting leg portions of the staple 35 to hammer and clinch the latter against the work, as illustrated by Fig. 5. A compression spring 82 is provided in conjunction with the pitman 80 for normally biasing the latter toward the right as viewed in Figs. 1 and 6, whereby retreat of the machine actuating cam mechanism will be accompanied by retrograde movement of the pitman and counterclockwise rotation of the rocker 62 for lowering of the clincher plate 50 toward the position thereof shown in Fig. 6.

The rod Z2 is transversely apertured as indicated at 85 in such manner that the rear end of the stem 75 extends into the aperture whereby upon disas'sembly of the rocker 62 from the sup porting structure the stem 15 may be removed from the rod 12 by driving a drift pin or other suitabletapered tool into the opening 84 so as to bear against the rear end of the stem F5 to drive the latter toward the left as viewed in Fig. 6. Also, it will be understood that manual control of the push rod 72 may be readily effected by inserting one end of a handle-like tool into the aperture 84, or by otherwise attaching a handlelike tool to the bar 12 in such manner as to project downwardly therefrom, whereby the handle device may be pressed upon by the operator to force the bar 12 to move to the left as viewed in Figs. 1 and'6 against the action of the springs 82-10 to rotate the rocker 62 in clockwise direction beyond the furthermost position thereof when being actuated by the cam-pushed pitman 86; whereby the knub 60 of the rocker will be withdrawn laterally from the apertured portion 58 of the clincher 50. Thus, the clincher 50 will thereupon be completely freed and may be manually slipped in a vertical direction out of the shaping die 40 for replacement or servicing thereof; and it will be understood that by reason of this specific arrangement of die actuating rocker and pitman means a more readily adjustable and serviceabl mechanism is provided.

Thus, it will be understood that by reason of the particular features described and referred to hereinabove, the staple driving and clinching mechanism of the invention provides improved rigidity of support of the staple legs in all directions as they are driven toward and through the Work; improved rigidity of support of the work in an attitude of exact normality to the direction of staple leg movement; improved rounding and deflecting of the staple leg ends simultaneously with their penetration of the. work preliminary to operation thereon by the clinching die; and a simplified and otherwise improved staple clinching die operation whereby an improved finished product is provided.

It will be understood that although only one form of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited but that various changes may be made therein with-- out departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a stapling machine for clinching wire staples, die means'adapted to support the work in opposition to the staple driving movement and having opposed corner portions facing normal to the direction of staple leg movement and offset inwardly from the paths of original driving motion of said staple legs and disposed to cam the staple legs inwardly toward one another as they emerge from the work and as they move against said stationary die means, and a clincher die movable relative to said die means to ram against said cammed staple leg portions subsequent to complete driving of the staple to clinch the work between the head of said staple and the legs of said staple.

2. In a stapling machine for clinching wire staples, die means adapted to support the work in opposition to the staple driving movement and having opposed wall portions facing normal to the direction of staple leg movement and disposed inwardly of the outer limits of the paths of driving movements of said staple legs and disposed to cam the staple legs inwardly toward one another as they emerge from the work and as they move "7 against said stationary die'm'eans, and a clincher die movable relative to said die means to ram against said cammed staple leg portions subsequent to driving ofthe staple to clinch the work between the head of said staple and the legs of said staple.

3. In a stapling machine for clinching wire staples, die means adapted to support the work in opposition to the staple driving movement and having opposed wall portions facing normal to the direction of staple leg movement and leading from positions inwardly offset from the paths of driving movement of corresponding of said staple legs and disposed to cam the staple legs inwardly toward one another as they emerge from the work and as they move against said stationary die means, and a clincher die movable relative to said die means to ram against said cammed staple leg portions subsequent to driving of the staple to clinch the work between the head of said staple and the legs of said staple.

4. In a stapling machine, for clinching wire staples, die means adapted to support the work in opposition to the staple driving movement and having opposedwall portions facing normal to the direction of staple leg movement and disposed to cam the staple legs inwardly toward one another as they emerge from the work and as they move against said stationary die means, and a clincher die movable relative to said die means only axially of the direction of said staple driving movement to ram against said cammed staple leg portions subsequent to driving of the staple to clinch the work between the head of said staple and the legs of said staple.

5. In a stapling machine, for clinching wire staples, stationary die means adapted to support the work in opposition to the staple driving movement and having opposed wall portions facing normal to the direction of staple leg movement and disposed to cam the staple legs inwardly toward one another as they emerge from the Work and move against said stationary die means, and a clincher die movable to ram against said cammed staple leg portions subsequent to driving of the stapleto'clinch the work between the head of said staple and the legs of said staple.

6. In a stapling machine, a base carrying a stationary die, a staple clinching die reciprocable relative to said stationary die for clinching operation, a rocker pivotally mounted upon said base and having a knub portion normally extending intoa recessed portion of said clinching die for cranking the latter to move in directions transversely of the direction of extension of said knub portion, spring means tending to bias said rocker to cramp said clinching die away from staple clinching position, pitman means adapted to reciprocate and bear against said rocker to rotate the latter against said spring means to procure clinching operation of said clinching die, spring means bearing against said pitman tending to bias the latter away from clinching procuring position, and means formed on said pitman for manual engagement to cause said pitman to move against the forces of said combined spring means for rotating said rocker to a position beyond the range of rotation thereof procured by said pitman operation whereby said rocker knub portion is retracted laterally out of said recessed portion of said clinching die member and whereby said clinching die member becomes freed from said rocker knub to permit removal of said clincher die for servicing thereof.

GERALD A. WEINGARTNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 447,314 Gronich Mar. 3, 1891 516,156 Flavell Mar. 6,1894 1,065,630 Grissinger June 26,1913 2,320,703 Maynard June 1, 1943 1,300,726 Henry Apr. 15, 1919 1,761,536 Price June 3,1930 1,763,040 Frey June 10, 1930 1,675,779 Allen July 3, 1928 

